**Chapter 182: Fully Controlled**

"This phantom thief, you wouldn't want anyone to be killed by the Shadow Magician while I'm arresting you, right?"

Fujino's lips curved slightly, his fists clenched a bit, and he displayed them in front of Kaito Kuroba.

"…"

Kaito glanced at Fujino's fists, which were as big as sandbags, gulped, and felt speechless for a moment.

Seriously, was this guy extorting him?

No, wait, it wasn't a question of *if*—he was definitely being extorted!

Even though Kaito realized Fujino was blatantly blackmailing him, he still planned to pay the 500,000 yen.

He had no choice. Although he felt like he was being scammed, Fujino's reasoning made sense.

Every profession has its own code of conduct.

And Kaito, as a magician, had his own principles to follow.

One had to admit, Fujino really knew how to manipulate his mind.

Kaito's purpose for coming here was simply to comfort the family of Kazuden Murai. 

If his guess was right, the woman named Kikue Tanaka was probably Murai's daughter or granddaughter.

Of course, by "comfort," he really just meant offering some encouragement.

Yeah, it's not like he didn't want anyone to die at this gathering—it was definitely *not* because he was yielding to Fujino's overwhelming... violence.

"I don't have 500,000 yen in cash on me right now…"

"No cash?"

Fujino frowned.

500,000 yen wasn't a huge amount, but converting it to cash would mean needing fifty 10,000-yen bills.

Most people wouldn't carry that much cash on them.

After pausing for a moment, Fujino continued, "Do you have a bank card?"

"A bank card?"

Kaito blinked. "Yeah, I've got one."

"That'll do."

Fujino pulled out a black mobile POS machine. "I support mobile payments."

Kaito: "…"

Seriously?

You carry around a mobile POS machine?

No, wait—where the heck did you even pull that out from?!

Watching Fujino casually whip out the POS machine, just like he would with anything else, Kaito was at a loss for words.

Sighing, Kaito also pulled out a bank card from who knows where, swiped it on Fujino's machine, and entered his PIN.

As a phantom thief, his bank card was, of course, encrypted. It wasn't linked to Kaito Kuroba's high school student identity, so he wasn't worried about revealing his true identity by using it.

Even if they tried to trace it, the information would lead to an empty account at a Swiss bank.

**[Transaction Complete: 500,000 yen]**

The pleasant notification sound reached Fujino's ears.

Fujino's smile relaxed significantly as he put away the POS machine. He patted Kaito on the shoulder and said, "Pleasure doing business with you, client."

"Haha…"

Wow, his attitude really changed fast.

Kaito asked, "So, what information do you need me to provide?"

"You joined the group pretty early, so I figure you might know something about the Shadow Magician," Fujino replied. "Before I joined, did the Shadow Magician and the Escape King have any conflicts?"

"Conflicts?"

Kaito thought for a moment and replied, "Actually, yes. The two of them had a big argument over Kazuden Murai's situation just before you joined the chatroom. The Shadow Magician suddenly said something like, 'This great magician's death is all your fault,' or something along those lines. I can understand that. Ikasama Doji is Kazuden Murai, and about six months ago, we discussed escape magic. Afterward, probably due to the anticipation from the people in the chatroom, Mr. Murai performed one final magic show."

"A final magic show?"

"That's right. During that escape act, Mr. Murai tragically died due to an accident…"

As he spoke, Kaito frowned slightly.

Clearly, as a magician himself, he felt deep sorrow over the loss of another magician.

"If you look at the situation now, the murderer could very well be one of Mr. Murai's fans, seeking revenge on the chatroom members who pressured him into performing again, leading to his death."

Based on the evidence he had so far, Fujino set aside spoilers and offered his reasoning.

"Knock, knock!"

Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Mr. Doi, dinner is ready."

"I got it!"

Kaito, switching back to his "Doi Taku" voice, responded.

"Alright, let's go eat."

Fujino turned and opened the door.

"You still have an appetite?"

Kaito stood up from the bed. "There's a murderer lurking around, watching us, waiting for the right moment to kill!"

"Food is essential," Fujino waved nonchalantly. "In a situation where the enemy is in the shadows and we're out in the open, there's no way we can strike first. We just have to wait for the Shadow Magician to make a move. With you, the master thief, and me, the black detective, as soon as he does anything, he'll be exposed."

"True…"

Kaito couldn't help but nod as he recalled the night when Fujino, holding a wooden sword, jumped two or three meters and chased after the Spider.

"Haha, who's bold enough to make a move in front of this guy?"

It was now afternoon.

Since it was winter, with short days and long nights, the sky was already dim even though it wasn't six o'clock yet.

A group of people gathered at the dining table—except for Conan.

Thanks to Fujino giving Conan a couple of magical cold pills in advance, he was now fast asleep, lying like a dead dog due to the medicine's effects.

At the dining table, the group from the magic chatroom started discussing their favorite Japanese magicians.

"As for magicians, I'd say Kuroba Toichi," Fujino casually mentioned the magician he was most familiar with.

"I also like Kuroba Toichi," Arayoshi agreed.

Kuroba Toichi had officially died eight years ago.

Even though he'd been gone for years, as a representative of the magic era, he still had a large fan base of magic enthusiasts.

Especially among people of Arayoshi's age.

Kaito Kuroba glanced at Fujino, surprised that Fujino was a fan of his father.

After a brief pause, he echoed, "Same here."

"I admire Yoshirou Kinonaka, who held so many titles by the age of twenty," said Hamano Toshi.

"Why do you all like magicians who are already dead? I still prefer someone alive, like Sanada Kazumi," Kuroda Naoko quipped before turning to Ran and Sonoko, asking, "Do you two have any favorite magicians?"

"If I had to pick a favorite magician…" Sonoko paused, her face turning slightly pink. "It would definitely be Kaitou Kid!"

"But Kaitou Kid is a thief..."

"And we can't even be sure if he's Japanese."

"I've had two encounters with him," Fujino suddenly chimed in. "I can confirm he's Japanese. Even though his disguises are flawless, my instincts tell me so."

He paused before continuing, "And judging by his magic techniques, Kaitou Kid's magic is indeed remarkable. As for whether he's a magician or not... I don't think performing magic only on stage is what makes someone a magician."

Then Fujino glanced meaningfully at Kaito Kuroba and asked, "Wouldn't you agree, Doi-san?"

"Haha... I think so too. The stage for magic isn't limited to one place," Kaito replied awkwardly.

...

After dinner, they cleaned up the dishes and started discussing the entertainment plans for the evening's after-party.

Originally, the after-party was supposed to be organized by the host of the gathering, the Escape King.

But since the Escape King was dead and didn't show up, and for some strange reason, the phone lines were also cut off, the group decided, under the leadership of Hamano Toshi, to leave the decision-making to magic.

Sonoko was blindfolded and marked the cards with names on them, representing who would be the proxy host of the gathering.

After that, Hamano Toshi performed a prediction trick.

Kuroda Naoko was predicted as the proxy host, and he guessed correctly.

Tanaka Kikuye was responsible for heating the bathwater, which was also predicted correctly.

However, when it came to guessing who would be responsible for the after-party entertainment, he guessed wrong.

He had predicted Doi Takeki would be in charge, but it turned out to be himself.

After making the decisions, everyone went off to handle their tasks.

Ran and Sonoko went to check on the still-sleeping Conan, Hamano Toshi went upstairs to prepare the entertainment, Arayoshi headed to the wine cellar to fetch some red wine, the university student working part-time went to the kitchen to prepare snacks, and Tanaka Kikuye went to the annex to heat the water.

"That magic trick earlier, you must've noticed something too, right?" Fujino slowly approached Kaito Kuroba and asked.

"Yeah, it was a simple trick," Kaito nodded. "If I'm not mistaken, Tanaka Kikuye, who executed the trick, was probably the plant. Before Hamano performed the magic, she had already pre-determined who would do each task with the cards."

"Don't you find it strange?" Fujino suddenly asked.

"Strange?"

"If the tasks were pre-assigned, why did Hamano Toshi predict you would be responsible for the entertainment?"

Kaito Kuroba froze, looking at Fujino in surprise. "Are you saying…"

"If I'm right, you were originally supposed to be in charge of the entertainment, but for some reason, it was switched to him."

Fujino paused before continuing, "And the only person who could've made that change is Tanaka Kikuye, the plant. But why would she change the original assignment? Does she have a reason that she had to do it?"

"Are you saying...?" Kaito Kuroba gulped, "Tanaka Kikuye is the Shadow Magician?"

"That part is still unknown for now," Fujino shook his head, turning his gaze upstairs. "But we'll find out soon enough if we go take a look."

(End of Chapter)